Shooters, Elston star at Haunted Hall of Hoops

The IU men’s basketball team welcomed local trick-or-treaters into Assembly Hall on Saturday afternoon with a 30-minute intersquad scrimmage.

Senior guard Matt Roth led the scoring with 17 points.

Here are three points to take away from the scrimmage:

ETHERINGTON AND ROTH DO MORE THAN JUST SHOOTING
After senior guard Verdell Jones III, sophomore guard Victor Oladipo and junior forward Christian Watford moved to the Crimson team at the half, the perimeter scoring for the Cream team fell on the shoulders of freshman forward Austin Etherington and senior guard Matt Roth.

The Cream team continually found Roth for open looks as he hit 5-7 shots from behind the arc and showed the ability to hit a pull-up jumper off the dribble.

Following the scrimmage, assistant coach Tim Buckley said Roth does a great job of getting “lost in the game.”

“When that ball’s moving around, and the defense has to rotate and collapse, whether it’s in the post or it’s off the dribble-drive, Matt can get lost on that perimeter. And as you well know, if the defense starts to come out on him quickly, he can just keep stepping back, so he pretty much has unlimited range,” Buckley said.

Etherington knocked down a pair of first-half 3-pointers and finished the scrimmage with 10 points and five rebounds.

“Austin shot the ball really well,” Buckley said. “The biggest thing for him and younger guys in general is playing through fatigue, playing through mistakes, but he has the ability to stretch the floor for us and shoot the ball.”

Heading into his freshman year, Etherington said he wants to show people he is more than a one-dimensional player.

“I know people thought that I could only shoot, and I just try to prove to everyone that I can play defense and that I can cut to the basket and create shots for everyone else, too,” Etherington said.

ELSTON BACK AND HEALTHY
After forward Bobby Capobianco transferred following last season, one of the team’s biggest questions became whether or not IU had enough frontcourt depth to make a jump in the Big Ten Conference.

Junior forward Derek Elston provided a possible answer to that question Saturday, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, three more than any other player.

Throughout last season, Elston fought through nagging injuries that kept him from playing anywhere at full strength.

“Obviously he’s struggled a lot with injuries over the past couple of years, and a lot of them were just minor tweaks here and there, but they really affected his play,” Roth said. “I thought he did a good job tonight running the floor.”

With forward Tom Pritchard sidelined with an ankle injury, Elston was the lone scholarship post player on the Cream team.

Assistant Coach Steve McClain said he sees a different Elston out on the court and is happy to have him back.

“Fans, were like, ‘Boy, it was fun to see Derek look like he was moving,’”
McClain said.

OLADIPO AND SHEEHEY GO AT IT
In the first half of Saturday’s scrimmage, Oladipo and sophomore forward Will Sheehey guarded each other when Sheehey was on the offensive end.

Oladipo finished the scrimmage with 16 points on 7-12 shooting and had seven rebounds.

Playing for the Crimson team the entire scrimmage, Sheehey was the team’s leading scorer with 14 points.

After coming off the bench for much his freshman season, Sheehey is now challenging for a starting spot, and his coaches have taken notice.

Buckley said Sheehey’s dedication in Cook Hall is the main reason for his
improvement.

“He’s in that gym 24/7 working on his game,” Buckley said. “I think he’s expanding his game. I think that he, Victor and (junior guard) Jordan (Hulls) have led the way, and now all the other guys are starting to come in and work extra.”